Mumbai suburbia to be revitalised with gardens and open spaces

Amenities planned for the traffic park in Kandivli West

Guardian Minister for Mumbai Suburbs Aaditya Thackeray has made a separate provision of funds under the District Planning Committee (DPC) to "revitalise suburban Mumbai through tactical urban interventions". "That may sound like jargon, but what this means is upping the liveability index of the people in these suburbs and overall, in the city," said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner, planning.

With the outbreak putting the accent on ‘outdoors' and ‘oxygen' there is a focus on upping what the civic officials are calling the "happiness quotient". The BMC Planning Department stated, "One of the key objectives to achieve our vision of health and well-being of people which is linked to liveability index is to enhance recreational amenities and user experience in parks and gardens." The BMC has proposed garden plots at various spots in the suburbs. The proposal envisages creating four parks, each one with a different theme.

Meditation mantra

There is a proposed "barefoot meditation park" at the Prabodhankar Thackeray Udyan, Vikhroli West. Some of the features the department has envisaged are acupressure walking tracks and sensory pathways for barefoot walking, yoga/meditation area and rock-climbing facility among others.

The science park at Ghatkopar is set to have interactive features

Science rules

The suburb of Ghatkopar West may soon get a science park, where a section in the park will be designed to exhibit interactive science equipment with an overall aim of learning through play. There is also an amphitheatre space included in the design.

Traffic tutorial

A traffic park is planned at Raje Shivaji Maidan, Charkop Sector 1 in Kandivli West. With an aim to make youngsters ‘traffic wise', the officials are looking at incorporating traffic elements such as signage, traffic signals, foot overbridge, pavements and road surfaces that emulate a real-life scenario. There is also a plan to provide parking space for school buses within.

Sport on

The fourth park on the anvil is the Multipurpose Sports Park at Dahisar Gaothan, Dahisar West. The most arresting feature here is the open mud fields to accommodate makeshift courts and open-air gym equipment. Dighavkar said, "These are technically called small projects of high perception value. Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackerayji's vision is to bring the amenities of South Mumbai to the suburbs.

People from across Mumbai and tourists, too, go to Hanging Garden to see the iconic ‘Old Woman's Shoe'. They may also take their children to the Traffic Park at Cooperage. Even beautification under flyovers is being done in South Mumbai. Now, there is a real will and focus to bring these attractions to the suburbs too, that is why two western suburb sites and two eastern suburb plots have been earmarked for the same. Tenders have been invited and we hope to begin work soon."

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No. of parks being planned